JP Shooting Team

Michael Payne

I began shooting with my dad when I was knee high to a grasshopper, and my father always stressed safety and accuracy above all other skills. I shot off and on for years, until I ran into a USPSA competitor who was practicing at my club. He invited me to a match and loaned me some mags and a belt rig for the weekend. I was hooked right away and have been competing heavily ever since. I knew I would someday want to try multigun and began acquiring the equipment necessary. I began competing in multigun in 2010 and felt as though I had found my preferred competitive venue. In the west we shoot out to 600yds quite often, so my rifle of choice is a 20Ē JP15. In 2011 I shot the CO State Multigun Championship in Heavy Metal division on a whim and with a borrowed M1a. I donít know why, but I love the way a 308 thumps through your chest. It wakes you up and makes you feel alive. Summer of 2012 I added an LRP-07 to my stable and absolutely love it.

I fund my addiction, by teaching pistol marksmanship classes at my club on the weekends. Iíve found that I enjoy teaching almost as much as I enjoy competing. There is something extremely cool about watching someone go from being largely unfamiliar with firearms to being able to hit anything they want in just one day. The delight in my students eyes is priceless. My main shooting facility is Pikes Peak Gun Club in Colorado Springs, where I am the rifle/pistol chairman on the BOD. I often host action pistol practice events for new shooters and run the Steel Challenge matches there in the summer. I invest a great deal of my time and effort into promoting shooting sports in safe and positive ways, believing education to be the key to preserving our 2nd amendment rights.